Howdy. The freakin' weeken' is in our midst, and what do you have to show for it? Hopefully something enjoyable, relaxing, and/or adventurous. I've been doing a lot of reflecting today, as I have been having a difficult time with that lately. Reflection is such a necessary part of my routine for multiple reasons: it allows me to process everything on my mind, I start to recognize patterns in my behavior, and ultimately I can identify opportunities in my every day decision making and life. Two things that have been on my mind a lot are time and people. A little over a year ago I accepted a job working in a well known retailer's corporate office. Having no real corporate office experience, I quickly picked up on a lot of new behaviors and personal opportunities. The successful people are quick and nimble, extremely organized, manage their time well and respect others time as if it were their own. They say "good morning!" before they ask favors first thing. They remember important things about you, things that make you happy. Most importantly, they listen to what others have to say and when presented with a situation in which they can aid, they find creative solutions and seek what is best for not themselves - but what is best for the business.

I think a lot of lessons learned at work or in any professional setting can be applied directly to other aspects of your life. I've always valued working directly with amazing leaders, driven peers, and the most inspirational people around. My personal friendships do not fall very far from that tree. I would like to think that my friends are the cream-of-the-creative-crop. I have a lot of extremely talented and extraordinary people in my life, and for that I am grateful. I am always learning something new from someone I love, and that is what life is all about to me.

If you think about your time as a pie chart, you can quickly see the majority of your time being taken up. Sleep, work, eat, repeat, am I right? But I think what we are doing with the tiny chunks of time between the major blocks is what is most important. Who you choose to spend your time with, who you choose to talk to on a daily basis, who you choose to spend the rest of your life with.. these people are important. Obviously. So, who are you choosing to listen to? Whose advise are you taking? Who have you been texting all day? Sometimes I like to take some time and step back and really think about who is exactly getting the most intimate details of my life, and why them? Am I giving away my time to the right people? Most of the time the answer is "no shit, I am giving my time to the right people" - but it is always a good thing to evaluate from time to time.

Anyway, I am working a super top-secret project right now that I cannot wait to update everyone on! All I can say is, I think I will be always be a hopeless romantic. And I am perfectly fine with that. Now listen to this song and enjoy your evening <3

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrcnZHCr04E[/embed]

Happy Saturday, y'all!

-S

Working at JCPenney is rewarding in different ways. One of those ways is that they let us give back to the community by various projects. This month we partnered with the Birthday Party Project and went to celebrate some awesome kid's birthdays one afternoon. We were gathered into two rows of equally excited adults, facing one another with our arms outstretched forward and above our heads. The lady by the door says "here they come!" and we start cheering and chanting "Happy Birthday!!" as the kids run through the tunnel of bodies and arms.. it was such a rush.

One thing I genuinely love about the company I work for is their passion for volunteerism and giving back to the community. A few weeks ago at one of our weekly divisional meetings, Paige Chenault came and spoke to us about The Birthday Party Project. If you have not heard about this organization, I strongly urge you to click the link above and learn more. They work with more than 10 agencies in the Dallas/Ft Worth area to provide birthday parties for the children staying in the shelters during that time. They go to each shelter once a month, twelve months a year. They have been celebrating community birthdays since January of 2012, recognizing over 500 birthdays- and counting- to date. My co-workers and I got play with and love on a lot of kiddos yesterday. We ran around on the playground, painted mini-canvas's, made sand-art necklaces, creatively designed pillow cases, ate cupcakes & had the best of times.

The most memorable moment for me yesterday was when we were walking toward the car, after the party was over and one of my co-workers says, "we should help that lady cross the street." We all three ran over to this woman who was not only carrying a pretty good size box of gifts- but she also had two little ones in tow. We greeted her and told her we would help her cross the street, I grabbed the box and my two co-workers got on either side of the woman and her children as we crossed the street together. She gave us a very warm, heartfelt thank you as her daughter came over and grabbed on to my leg and squeezed. She looked up and said, "thank you for my birthday." I could feel the water in my eyes get heavy as she hugged my two co-workers. Her brother was right behind her with the hugs and the thank-yous. The kindest, most appreciative children you would have ever met. Completely made my day.

I can honestly say that my heart is very full right now, and I am very grateful for the family and life that I have. There is nothing more rewarding in life than to know that you've made someone else's day brighter.

Until next time.

-S